A qualitative exploration of facilitators and barriers to meningitis vaccination uptake among men who have sex with men

Invasive Meningococcal Disease is a deadly, but preventable disease, with community outbreaks occurring at rate of 9.5 per year. Serogroup C Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD) community outbreaks in men who have sex with men (MSM) have been reported with greater frequency in large urban areas since 2010. An effective vaccine exists that can temper and control outbreaks, and is recommended for MSM in outbreak settings; however very little is known about the perceptions, barriers and facilitators to IMD vaccine uptake among MSM. Optimizing awareness and vaccine uptake for MSM is a high priority to reduce and control IMD outbreaks. To that end, we conducted focus groups with MSM during an active IMD outbreak to inform development of a tailored intervention strategy. Participants discussed facilitators (e.g., logistics, relationships, health literacy) and barriers (e.g., fear of disclosure, medical distrust) to vaccination, as well as ideas for intervention strategies (e.g., incentives, use of internet outreach).